Top Democrats humiliate House members for cash

Washington
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Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders are apparently attempting to humiliate House members into contributing campaign cash by removing their pictures from the lobby of Democratic Party headquarters.

One at a time, the photos overlooking Democratic Party headquarters have been removed until once neat rows of framed photos is now a hodgepodge of sporadic chaos, according to a POLITICO report.

The half-dozen or so lawmakers whose pictures were removed most recently weren’t indicted in court or slapped with an ethics violation. Their misbehavior is far more serious in the view of top party leaders. These folks have failed to pony up for the party.

They are guilty, in the eyes of Pelosi and her lieutenants, of not tossing enough cash in the hat as she passes it around the house. Top Democrats are having much trouble prying open fists fulls of dollars as the party struggles to remain competitive in House races.

House Democrat candidates are not as popular as the rising 2010 Republicans and outside conservative groups are poised to trample them in TV ad spending. Meanwhile, Democrats complain that their own lawmakers’ conservative giving has left Democrats flat footed as crucial campaign fights draw close.

While Pelosi hasn’t tried water-boarding members as yet, Democrats say they’ve tried just about everything to get their colleagues to open their wallets. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has informed members that unless they pay their dues in full, they won’t get to partake in the committee’s Democratic National Convention package.

This punishment would exclude access to premium hotel rooms and rubbing elbows at top Party parties. In June, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) attempted to shame her members into giving by sending memos to each of them requesting money. The memo included asking if they are part of “the team.”

“To the extent that Republican members are giving more to Republican candidates than Democratic members are giving to Democratic candidates, it’s a problem,” said Ali Lapp, who runs the Democratic group House Majority PAC.

Typically, House members, many of whom have flush campaign accounts, are one of the DCCC’s largest sources of funding. This year’s frugality indicates individual candidates may be more worried more about their own reelections than other members’campaigns.